Regicide
After arriving in Sienna Springs, the gang spent some time gathering information on their enemy. They sent scouts out into the city to gather rumors, got a little more research from Ombre, and adjusted their strategy accordingly. Then, leaving Azriel at an inn to watch Theo, the Graverunners and their allies went into the dormant volcano: The first time, Morgan Wyn led them to Ysra's bones, and Goro communed with his spirit, trying to find out why he had killed her. He wasn't much help. However, Morgan gifted his axe, which she had used as his grave marker, to Jasper. The second time, they went to fight. The old ten-headed hydra put up a fierce fight, snapping at the Runners every time they moved and letting off occasional bursts of fire breath. They had wisely invested in fire resistance potions, though, as well as ice spells to cut her ability to regenerate her health, and with two tanks and two healers, they were able to put up a good fight of their own. Jasper found herself ensnared in the Queen's jaws and kept on fighting, and though Hansel was badly wounded at one point, Mishka caused a distraction and Jonn darted forward to help with healing potions. Roddy cannily avoided taking a single hit, Raef focused on dealing ice damage, Larkin and Morgan kept up a volley of arrows, and Goro and Luci did their best to buff, debuff, and throw in offensive spells when they could. "Hey," Mishka said, "wouldn't it be terrible if the hydra broke free of her last two chains and got into the lava, and became some sort of super-powered lava hydra?" The Queen, infuriated, did exactly that thing. The gang regrouped, healed up, and ran after her, moving the fight to a lava-filled cave with stalagmite platforms and precarious bridges. They continued the assault, splitting into two groups with Jasper using her winged boots to become a ranged weapon. The Queen continued to gnash at her and at Hansel, clamping him down in her jaws this time. As she crushed him and he began to lose consciousness, thunder echoed through the cavern, and the Runners were helpless to prevent another Gruumsh possession. Luckily, Gruumsh seemed more interested in fighting the hydra chomping on his avatar than fighting the Runners. He thunderstepped onto the Queen's back and began pummeling her, and she refocused her attention on Jasper, unable to reach the Avatar; then she turned back to let loose one final burst of flame at the other Runners before beginning to sink into the lava, heavily wounded. The Avatar thunderstepped back out of danger to confront the Runners as the Queen died behind him. Oddly, though, Morgan Wyn remained alive. She helped the gang fight their possessed comrade, as he hit them with now-familiar thunder and lightning spells, knocking Raef and Luci unconscious almost immediately. Goro, Roddy, and Mishka, who had been attacking the Queen from the other side of the cave, dimension doored over to the others, getting their friends back on their feet and waling on Hansel. Out of the corner of his eye, Goro saw something emerging from the lava where the Queen had fallen. As Mishka sunk his rapier into his husband's gut, a beam of moonlight blasted down through the volcano's spout, directly onto Hansel. Behind him, Mishka alone saw the ghostly figure of Serena Yrendael, the deceased navigator, cleric of Seluna, and the seer who foresaw Hansel's violent possession. She pointed to Hansel, the light burned him and those standing nearest to him, and he went down, himself again but unconscious. Hansel's kids hurried to get him out of danger, the Sterlings staying with him while Roddy went back to confront the real Sanguine Queen -- a lava-haired, coal-skinned fire genasi woman who was aided by a small flock of pseudodragons. She rebuked all of their attacks, slashed them with her magic short swords, and used necrotic life-stealing magic on them, but there were too many of them and they were energized from the encounter with Serena, and she didn't stand a chance. The Sanguine Queen crumbled to ash. Outside the volcano, three Morgan Wyns died, with no one to help them. Inside the volcano, the one the Runners called Red dropped to the ground and fought for her life -- and won. Goro was quick to heal her and say "I told you so," while Roddy Sent a similar message to Amren, which went unresponded to. Mishka offered Morgan a job, then went to tend to his husband. Everyone got out alive. It was a good day for the Graverunners. Category:Session Recaps